Need some help!

When my bike went to sleep in November it worked perfectly. Stable at all speeds.

I woke it up in early March. Replaced the brakes and brake rotors, mounted some new 016's did the basic spa day and fluid change for the bike and went for my first ride. Saddly, I noticed that I had a noticable shake in teh bars between 60 - 90 kmh. It seems to smooth out above 90 (I guess it is frequency related) and I tested the bike at speeds up to 250 and it is as stable as ever.

Here is what I have done:

1. Remounted and rebalanced tires - no result
2. Checked read chain tighness and alignment - no result
2. Tighted Steering Head - no result
3. Replaced with new from tire - no result

I am at a loss. Next I am going to:

1. Replace front wheel bearings
2. Replace front axcle
3. Replace Steering Head Bearing

Has anybody experienced this problem in the past? I know the majority of time it is bad rubber but I am sure that my issue goes beyond that. What would our resident experts do?

Thanks

I am at a loss. The rear of the bike has not been changed except for teh rubber. I have approximately 35,000kms on the bike so I have been through countless tires. Never had a problem.

The vibe is clearly evident with hand off the bars but I know its there when fully gripped. It is very annoying.

The bike is accident free.

Thanks Hub for your help.

I have run 014s until these 016s that I am using now.

I know-I'm NOT HUB...but your shake problem is a common one.I've had it-exactly as you describe.And a lot of guys have had it as well.Your(my)(our) zx14's do not inherently have a shake issue at 40,50 mph.She should be as smooth as glass at any speed if the components are good.Mine was corrected by a new front tire.I will ask this....is it doing it NOW with a brand new tire on the front?I would say straight out....DO NOT BUY ALL THOSE replacement parts YET!!!!!Let me ask you this....do you have wheel weights on the front?Dumb question I know.I'm asking because when my Mech installed my PIRELLI front tire(twice),he "balanced" the wheel as usual.Installed the "correct" weights for the balance.I rode er-she shook like well,not good.I stopped and removed the weights(all of em)from the front wheel.She was smooth as a baby's...well,you get it.Lining up the tire sidewall red mark to the valve stem "may" be what's happening with yours.I KNOW that my Pirellis NEVER need weights on them,once the paint mark is lined up with the stem.Just my experience-don't know about yours.

* Last updated by: blue07 on 4/6/2010 @ 1:07 PM *

Same shake, same speed here. New front tire fixed it. -bg

Did the tire switch. I now have 3 new front tires at home. I should sell them back to bridgestone.

You'd be amazed at how many "mechanics" have never heard of aligning the paint mark with the valve stem.I'll tell ya-it definitely made a difference in MY tire's performance.I also did a "test" of sorts-course,you're saying your tire is new-so this wouldn't really apply...yet.I took a brand new tire(Pirelli)and rode as I always did-which meant the "pre-warm up weave" on almost every ride and during the ride.I started getting the shake deal at about "half" the tire life.The tire appeared fine.It stayed like that for the life of the tire.I replaced with a new one.NO pre warm up weaves throughout the life of the new tire(and no wheel weights as well).There was NO wiggling at 40,50.With my present tire,it's the same-NO wiggling(and NO wheel weights).I naturally STOPPED doing the weave deal-it's just not necessary with the new tires.And the wear factor is not always visible.Especially if it's occurring in the tire carcass itself,and not the tread per se.There's alot to be said for maintaining tire pressures also.I'm running 42/42 cold.Does that help anything?-IDK...but my tires are performing fine for me.Paint mark aligned with valve stem...no wheel weights(mind you,these are Pirellis-so I can't say about wheel weights for other brands).

* Last updated by: blue07 on 4/6/2010 @ 1:31 PM *

KINDA looks like my old Mark 5 setup.....amazing.Snowflake .

* Last updated by: blue07 on 4/6/2010 @ 2:36 PM *

THIS is the REAL DEAL......You'll get no headshake in this baby-I can vouch for that!

Ok, now I'm experiencing a little shake. It doesn't seem to be related to one speed or another though. These tires only have about 1600 miles on them - they're the factory BS. You all think this is a tire issue on the front as well?

I do.One question.....do you "pre-warm" your tires by swerving back and forth during your rides?

* Last updated by: blue07 on 4/14/2010 @ 1:18 PM *

No, not really. Am I supposed to be doing this?

* Last updated by: loadedmind on 4/14/2010 @ 3:29 PM *

"No,not really"....does that mean "yes,occasionally".I asked because I found that NOT doing the "pre-warm up tire swerve"(that "everyone" thinks needs to be done for grip)eliminated that pesky 40-50mph wiggle.I couldn't detect odd tire wear visibly,but apparently it WAS causing some strange wear to set up in the front tread.Since I stopped doing that-no more wiggle.Front tires run smooth.

* Last updated by: blue07 on 4/14/2010 @ 3:50 PM *

The only time I'm doing any swerving (which is extremely seldom) is when I'm bored after having been on the bike for a while. Never done that on a cold start that I can remember.

Well...I can only go by what I did.My pirellis have not needed weights since I've been using them-this is many sets over a three year period.I always line up the red paint mark to the valve stem.When I stopped doing the swerving deal...I had no more issues with headshake(after replacing the offending tire).So,I don't know about your situation..maybe it's the tire brand?Or the weight placement?Or even the speeds you do swerve occasionally.In spite of how well our baby's handle and such,it's still a lot of weight on that front tire.Loading it up with side to side swerving may not be the best thing to do considering.??????Personally,I don't think there's a thing wrong with your frontend...bearings and headstock area.I just think it's the front tire.Grinding off rubber doesn't take much under the "right" conditions.Pressure may be playing a part in it as well.I'm keeping my front/rear at 42 psi.I wonder how many Busa riders experience this?Similar bike,similar weight and tires.

* Last updated by: blue07 on 4/14/2010 @ 4:19 PM *

Makes perfect sense - I just have to fault Kawasaki for allowing such a shitty tire to become factory spec. I really hate that I'm not going to be able to get my money's worth out of the stock tires, but I really see no choice but to replace them way before the end of their life. At this point, I can't believe Bridgestone allowed this particular tire to even exist. I don't know about the rest of you, but if I have a bad experience with something like a battery, tires, headlights, I tend to shy away from that particular brand.

Just to clarify a bit.....this phenomenon occurred with my earlier tires...they were pirelli Diablos and also Diablo Stradas.Way back in 07.So I don't want to fault the tire mfg's with this.But yeah...the factory shipped tires on my 14 were toast at 1500 miles(on the rear anyway).They were Bridgestones.

I've got 46k miles on my 14. I've been running michelin Pilot Powers (not 2ct's) and am on my 4th set. Never had the shake issue until now. driving me nuts. I've balanced, rebalanced.... my roommate even "vectored" the front tire on the front rim using the balancer... still have the shakes at 40-50's. tried re-torquing the steering stem and re-torquing the whole front end. still have the shakes.... so it's not just the BS's doing this. I'm gonna try a new tire again to see if that will solve the problem

New tire will probably fix it. Please let us know whether or not it does. Thanks. -bg

jon throw 2 oz of dynobeads in each tire and see if that takes care of the shake